It was a normal day on February 4, 2025, in Lake Dias, a 740-acre body of water in Volusia County, north of Orlando. Suddenly, a boat started spinning out of control just off-shore. This caught the eye of several people, who frantically called for help, as on the boat was an unconscious man.
Charlie McCrary, a member of Volusia County’s citizens on patrol program, was conducting his regular patrol of the lake when he saw a speedboat “spinning around in the middle,” according to a video released by the department on social media. Curious, McCrary went to see what was happening. “I got out of my unit, I walked up to the dock, I could not see anybody in the boat whatsoever,” McCrary said.
Sheriff’s deputies from the Marine Unit and members of Volusia County Fire Rescue responded to the scene. They spotted an unconscious man inside the boat. As the boat approached closer and closer to the shore, it was clear it would crash, potentially harming the man inside. With this in mind, they had to get creative about how to stop the boat without endangering the man inside. The first solution they tried was using a marine unit to make the boat stop. However, the speedboat got too close to shore to place a marine unit in its path.
As time was running out, they devised a second solution: Using the marine boat’s wake to push the speed boat closer to the shoreline so that it could be turned off without causing damage to it. Unfortunately, neither of these plans worked because it was a threat to the man’s life.
Having no other option, the Marine Unit tried a riskier strategy. The sheriff’s boat was brought as close as possible to the moving speedboat, and VCFR Acting Division Chief and Technical Rescue Deputy Team Leader John Kyp was able to jump onto the smaller craft. This lets Kyp turn off the boat and rescue the unconscious man.
The man, who has not been identified, was transferred from his speedboat to the Marine Unit craft and brought to shore, where EMS was waiting. Thankfully, he is expected to make a full recovery in the hospital. Thanks to Kyp and the marine unit’s quick wits, they were able to stop the speedboat and rescue the unconscious man.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-rescued-unresponsive-speedboat-florida-volusia-county/
